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Last week I was invited to attend a fitness class downtown that was hosted by CrossFit Backbay and City Sports. While I am not a “traditional” Cross Fitter, I do like trying new classes around the city and was excited for the opportunity. I also knew we’d likely be doing a bodyweight workout since the class was held outdoors, and I’m always looking for new bodyweight ideas to teach in my fitness classes, do as part of no equipment workouts at home, and share on the blog with all of you.

I went into the night feeling a little flustered after being stuck in traffic on the way home from work. I had to sprint to catch the bus I take into Boston, but luckily my new Nano 4.0 sneakers that Reebok sent me to wear to the workout helped me make it in time. Phew!

After arriving to the Greenway and checking in, I really had to pee. Since I had five minutes to spare, I decided to quickly run across the street to use the bathroom in one of the restaurants in the North End. Of course my awkward self picked a creepy restaurant with a bathroom in their dark downstairs area. As I was waiting to use the bathroom, I started overheating because it was so hot. I took off my zip-up jacket (note: phone was in the pocket) and put it in my bag, quickly used the bathroom, and made my way back across the street. At this point, everyone had arrived and settled in, and it was time to start the workout.

We began with a double Tabata style warmup where we did different dynamic exercises such as squats, lunges, high knees, jumping jacks, pushups, and situps to get our blood flowing. During the warmup, I reached into my pocket for my phone to snap a few pictures (dun, dun, dun), only to realize that my pocket was empty. No phone. Of course I started panicking and stepped out of the warmup for a minute to scan the area around me and frantically dig through my bag. No dice. I lose things at the bottom of my bag all the time, so I quadruple checked, but I still couldn’t find it. Gah! How the heck I was supposed to document my experience at the event for this blog post!? More importantly, I started freaking out about all the pictures that were still on my missing phone from Slesh’s wedding and Erica’s bachelorette party.

After our warmup, the instructor said he was going to take about five minutes to explain and demonstrate the next exercises for the partner section of the workout.

I figured that since the exercises and form for each move were familiar to me, I could sneak away to try to backtrack my steps to the restaurant. I ran away, ignoring some of the weird looks I was getting from other class goers, and sprinted across the street. Back to the creepy bathroom area it was. The manager of the restaurant even came down at one point only to find me crawling around on the gross dark floor like a crazy person. I guess I don’t blame him for being concerned. It’s probably not every day that someone decked out in Reebok gear comes barreling in to his restaurant not once, but twice in one night, and not even to eat anything.

At this point I chalked it up to a loss and figured I should just finish the workout and would worry about my phone later. Back across the street I went, and I made it back just in time to start the partner part of class. Miraculously, a really nice guy was still looking for a partner and found me. The gist of the workout was that each pair needed to finish all 100 squats before moving on to the sit-ups, then all 100 sit-ups before moving on to the jumping lunges. Everyone could decide how they wanted to split up the reps, so my partner and I decided to just alternate doing 10 reps each until we reached the 100 total. The kicker was that every minute on the minute, the instructor would yell for everyone to pause wherever they were and do 3 burpees. Those minutes seemed to get shorter and shorter as the workout went on! I taught this workout in my class this morning, and I think it’s safe to say that my class members would agree.

Once everyone completed the partner workout, the instructor said that “the only reward for exercise is more exercise!” (definitely stealing that), so we finished class with some isometric work: straight-arm planks, side planks, and a new to me version of V-ups that I most certainly will be introducing in my classes soon. Even though the class was advertised from 6-7, we finished around 6:45. The City Sports and CrossFit Back Bay folks stuck around to host a raffle, hand out water, and answer any questions people had.

City Sports also gave me a little swag bag before the workout started, so after I finished stretching, I sat down to peek at what was inside. What was the first thing I saw in there? My phone. When I took my jacket off and put it in my over the shoulder bag, my phone must have fallen into the swag bag inside somehow! I still don’t really understand how that happened since I hadn’t opened the swag bag yet, but it did, and I basically ran around like a madwoman for an hour for no reason. I just had to shake my head because this was definitely a typical awkward Athena thing to do.

I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to introduce myself to some of the other bloggers that were there, but I just felt too frazzled to have a normal conversation with anyone. I do consider my overall experience a success though. Even though I “lost my phone,” I was still able to get a good workout in and sweat a lot during the WOD. I also really liked wearing my new orange and purple kicks for the workout. They were super comfortable, and the wider toe box was a bonus! (ha).

If you are interested in participating in this class, you are in luck because it’s being offered every Thursday night from 6-7pm until August 21st on the Greenway (right between the North End and Haymarket station, near the intersection of Cross and Hanover). To take part, you just need to register online and show up. I definitely recommend it! There was a good group – about 25 people total of mixed genders, ages, and fitness levels – so if you are intimidated by Cross Fit, don’t be. The instructor broke everything down so all the beginners were comfortable, and I think free fitness events like these are a great place to meet new people.

Unless you are a loser like me.

–Let’s chat–
Have you ever tried CrossFit before? Was it indoors at a CrossFit box or outside for a free event? Are you taking advantage of any other free fitness classes in your communities this summer?

You GUYS. I haven’t posted something in my Awk Spot series in a WHOLE YEAR. Don’t worry, I haven’t lost my love for awkward moments. Rest assured that awkward situations and people are CERTAINLY still finding me. I guess I just haven’t written about as many of my awkward experiences as I used to? A reader actually called me out recently on not having posted any awk spots in a long time, so today I’m here to warn you guys about how NOT to blow up an exercise ball at work.

Obviously.

Through my worksite wellness program, we encourage staff to decrease the amount of time spent sitting all day, and we recommend replacing standard desk chairs with alternative workstations. My group recently purchased a few stability balls and standing desks to “practice what we preach.” I put that in quotes because I haven’t been the best about making the switch from my desk chair, but I’m trying!

However, if you ARE making the switch to a stability ball chair, my advice to you is to forgo the old-fashioned hand pump when trying to blow the damn thing up. Otherwise, you are going to look extremely awkward while pumping away under your desk.

Really, it’s not the best motion to be doing in the work place. It gets you weird looks. Oh, and welcome to my little 9-5 home. Now you have a visual of my work environment. Pretty exciting standard. I look smart in my glasses though, don’t I?

ANYWAYS. Back to pumping. Get rid of the hand pump. But really, the foot pump isn’t necessarily much better…

Right?! Why is blowing up a darn stability ball the funniest slash dirtiest thing ever?! Even the directions were dirty. I can’t even repeat what they said to do. Don’t worry, once the ball is blown up, sitting on it is a whole different story. Every movement gets you an awkward squeak where you feel obligated to explain that you are sitting on a stability ball so your co-workers don’t think you are THAT person who farted at their desk. Oh, and there’s really no graceful way to get off of the ball when standing back up. Trust me. None.

I promise that my corporate wellness programming is more advanced than this, but I needed something silly to get me through the end of my week. Now I’m off to put together an inspirational wellness talk that I’m giving to a group of nurses at a marketing event in a couple of weeks.

I’m thinking I’ll leave the balls out of it.

–Let’s chat–
Do you use an alternative workstation? Any awkward exercise ball stories you’d like to share?Does anyone want to tell me about an awkward moment you’ve had recently?

My girlfriends and I aren’t exactly known as the dainty ones in a crowd.

In fact, at one point we actually created a whole list of words that “nobody would ever call us.”

Dainty

Sophisticated

Graceful

Poised

Delicate

Elegant

Posh

Petite

Refined

Classy

Those were just some of the words that made the list. Can you see why?

Well guess what? This week I proved our list wrong, ladies. Check out this evaluation that came in after my Stress Less presentation in Atlanta on Tuesday:

“Thank you for providing this seminar in Atlanta. Presenter was knowledgeable and poised. Really good takeaways. Nice slide show as well.”

Little does this poor staff member know that the very next morning, I spilled an entire cup of hot coffee down the front of my khaki pencil skirt five minutes before we were supposed to leave for work. I had to rush back upstairs, iron and change in a panic, and ended up in the same blazer I wore the day before. If that doesn’t scream poised, I don’t know what does.

Who knows, maybe dainty will be next. I’d say there’s a good chance.

My favorite part of the “words people would never call us list” is that if you look up antonyms to just about any of these, guess what word shows up?

If you had to pick just one word that nobody would ever describe you as, what would it be?!

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Welcome! I'm Athena, a twenty-something corporate wellness coordinator, personal trainer, and fitness instructor living in the Boston area. I am passionate about helping women feel empowered to lift heavy weights and treat themselves with self compassion. I believe that strength is contagious and healthy living lets people become their happiest and best version of themselves. I also love awkward moments, trying new restaurants, and eating organically/locally when possible. Oh yeah, and drinking wine too. Thanks for stopping by!

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Disclaimer

I am a certified personal trainer (ACSM) and certified group fitness instructor (AFAA); however the ideas I express in Fitness & Feta are mine alone, based on my own experiences, and should not be taken as medical advice. This blog is simply meant to guide you toward a healthier path and inspire you. I do NOT photograph everything I eat.